Unfortunately there’s not a lot that you can other than move and you probably can’t do that until your lease is up.

Even in progressive states/districts like DC, renters do not have the upper hand when dealing with mega corporation landlords.

Pi Pizza in DC

http://www.pi-pizza.com

Oof this is a sore subject for us. My wife and I are of a similar age, with similar housing expenses (slightly higher, closer to $3,400 all-in) and are considering having children in the next 24 months.

We make a pretty comfortable living of between $250-275k/year(depending on how bonuses and salary increases go this year), and can afford a clean and comfortable (but by no means lavish) apartment, dining out every weekend, roughly $15k/year of travel, and a reasonable savings rate for retirement. The schools around our current apartment are quite good, so it would be a great place to raise a kid…if we wanted to continue to rent. When we looked at buying a condo or townhouse of comparable size and location to what we currently enjoy, all the math goes to shit.

We would like to both have children and become homeowners in the near future, but even with a household income of >$250k/year, we cannot afford to do both without either A) relocating to a different part of the county or further away from DC entirely and (likely) compromising on our current standards for public schools or B) directing almost all of our money towards housing and child expenses, leaving relatively little money leftover for home improvement, family recreation, and saving for college. I think to own a home of >1,200 square feet in Arlington, send your kids to a good school (by that I mean Elementary, Middle, and High Schools for the area are all rated a 6/10 or higher by Great Schools), and have enough discretionary income leftover for everything that people typically associate with “comfortable” middle class living (saving for retirement, saving for college, investing in home improvement, driving 1-2 reliable and safe cars, eating out occasionally, and still having money available to travel once or twice per year), you probably need to have a combined household income of $300k/year or more, probably closer to $400k/year if you want to do those things above but live in a townhouse or detached house that isn’t falling apart.

I know this is a controversial subject and some people do a great job of raising well-rounded kids on far less money and live a happy life. But if you were looking for an “ideal” number to aim for to raise a family in Arlington, that’s what I would aim for. (For the record, I don’t think we’re ever going to hit those numbers, which is why we’ll likely be exiting the DMV in the next 5-10 years entirely).

Assuming this isn’t in the US. Sweet pups. They all deserve real homes.

I feel like most subletters are college kids or people on extended work travel trying to save money and pocket part of their travel stipend. That said, I think you may need to heavily discount the unit to get any bites. Not going to be many people interested in subletting an apartment at market rate.

I was making $60k/year when I first moved to Arlington in 2015 and I lived pretty comfortably, but I was pretty good about keeping my base expenses in check. My car was fully paid off and I shared a 2br/2ba apartment with a roommate. My rent was $1,314.29/ month including parking and (some) utilities, though it was walking distance to the Orange and silver lines and in a great neighborhood. Rents have gone up since then but not as much as you would think. My wife and I share a larger 2br/2ba apartment now for $3,200/month incl. parking and you can definitely find cheaper options.

The trick is living with a roommate. 2br/2ba situations apartments are often cheaper than 3br or group house situations. If you insist on going at it alone the math goes to shit. It’s not impossible, but you’ll have much less in the way of discretionary income, live in a much older unit (probably without laundry) and live in a much worse part of town. The options get better as you get away from the city, but not enough to be recommended. You’ll also be spending considerably more in gas, mass transit fares and Ubers since everything is so spread out the further you get from the city. I probably wouldn’t recommend solo living in Arlington to anyone making less than $85k/year.

If you’re young and single you really want to be in DC or Arlington. The dating scene in the rest of nova can be pretty brutal.

We all shit eventually. It’s okay, really.

Anyone who has read up on why the timeline for clearing the park was moved up knows this isn’t about punishing the homeless or reclaiming public spaces. It’s because the drug use and violent crime in the encampment has literally become so pronounced that social services workers can’t safely access those who need assistance anymore.

The city doesn’t have an unlimited budget. It’s about doing the most amount of good for the most amount of people, and the extent of the encampment has become unmanageable and is preventing those who are desperately in need of services from getting them.

Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. There’s a long list of reasons why a 32yo shouldn’t romantically pursue 18yos and Vice versa, one’s you’ll probably appreciate more when you’re 32 and not 18. But Caleb should know better, and that should be a good enough reason to avoid him.

Very EV friendly area. Of the 4 Arlington apartment buildings I’ve lived in, 2 have had EV charging stations that almost never get used.

That said, if you plan on commuting by car tolls will be a bigger problem than charging. 66 uses demand-driven toll pricing during rush hour and 267 is a toll road at all times. It can really add up.

The silver line is a practical option if your office is close to the station. Super early in the AM or late at night can be less so. Long waits and sketchy people (at least in DC proper. Less so in Arlington and probably very rare in FFX/Loudoun since the stations are above ground)

Limited parking, little to no foot traffic. There are plenty of great places to eat in Arlington, but they’re in the R-B corridor and in Crystal City for a reason. Westover is probably the one exception to this.

For the same reason that the Redskins/WFT/Commanders are still known as Washington DC’s NFL team, despite the fact that the redskins haven’t played a single game within the city limits for over 25 years.

Offer rides to others when they’re on the way and they’re people you like, but otherwise there is no expectation so don’t.

Anyone that has lived in DC long enough knows the traffic is bad enough that a 3 mile diversion can be a 30 minute+ diversion and will understand.

Based on the buildings that OP is considering I don’t think they’re that concerned about the additional expense of underground parking.

Both are gorgeous buildings. I’ve seen the amenities of Aubrey firsthand and they’re impressive. I haven’t been inside Origin myself but have heard great things and buy coffee from the Compass on the 1st floor of that building every day. If they’re within budget, you really can’t go wrong with either.

While Roslyn is physically closer than Ballston, it’s a pretty sleepy downtown area with a lot of vehicle traffic. There’s a lot more to eat, drink, and experience in Ballston. If you’re under the age of 35 and/or single I would 100% choose Ballston.

Avoid crystal city and pentagon city. They’re not unsafe they’re just boring without much of a neighborhood vibe.

How many people are actually going to use this? Other than the handful of travelers who live in Crystal cities, why wouldn’t people just ride the train one more stop directly to the airport itself?

Also, who the hell bikes to an airport to then get on a plane and leave their bike locked up in a public space for days at a time?